Page 35 of Surprise Baby for the Mafia Boss

I hadn’t realized how deep his feelings for me actually were. He hadn’t done the best job of showing me how he felt. I wasn’t even aware that Luca Baldini had it in him to fall for anyone, but it does make me happy that it’s me he chose to fall in love with.

I just know that when he’s straightened out his thoughts, he’ll come around and together, we will raise this baby and be a family.

If he’s already fallen in love with me, then my dreams of our family might just be attainable.

He admitted that he loves me in front of his sister, and that’s not the kind of feeling that just goes away. It doesn’t.

I have him, his heart, his baby.

I know that we can make things work and start our own family. I just need to give him space to think. Maybe the thought of the baby was too big of a shock, and once he fully processes what this means for him, for the family, he’ll come looking for me.

I get in my Bentley and drive home, my mind in so many different places, I barely even register the roads that I pass.

My father is standing in the kitchen when I walk into the house. He’s smiling at me as I walk in. He looks confused by my tear-stained face.

“Em, did you not speak to Luca today? Why the tears?” He asks me, coming in to give me a hug. I sob into his chest, then step back and wipe my eyes on my sleeve.

“I did, Dad. I spoke to him…But Grazia got to him first. She told him that I used the family and got pregnant to trap him.” I take a breath to stop the tears from falling.

“He was so angry. I’ve never seen Luca that angry before, except maybe when he’s dealing with other families. But not with me…”

The sobs come again, harder, and the pain in my chest forces me to sit down at the table.

“But…” My father sounds even more confused, and I really don’t know why—he was here when Grazia heard us talking, he knew that this wasn’t good for either of us.

“Luca didn’t propose?” He asks, and now it’s my turn to look confused.

“Propose?” I wipe my eyes again and squint at my father, wondering if he’s hit the whiskey a bit too early today. Sometimes he does that, and then fantasies can seem real to him.

“He came here…Luca…not too long ago, actually, about an hour ago…to ask for my blessing. I, of course, gave it to him! There is nothing that will cause me to say no to Luca Baldini asking me if he may marry my daughter. And I know it’s something that will make you happy too. He said he was going to give you his grandmother’s ring. Then he left to look for you. He said he hadn’t seen you or Grazia today. Tell me you didn’t turn him down, Emelia.”

Luca was going to propose? Is that why he had looked so heartbroken at the mansion? I’m impressed that he came all the way here to ask for my father’s blessing.

A man like Luca is usually very good at taking what he wants, but his gesture in asking for my hand before he proposed shows me that he’s still the gentleman that I grew up with.

“I didn’t turn him down, Dad. I’m carrying his baby. Of course I would have said yes! But he didn’t get the chance to ask me. As soon as he walked into the mansion, Grazia hit him with her version of what she had heard, and he exploded. He’s so angry.”

Luca’s angry face was etched into my mind. I hated seeing him upset, but him being angry with me cut deeper than anything I’d ever felt before.

I want to fix this, but I have no idea how.

I think about Luca, planning this proposal, and then hearing about what his sister called my "master plan". Of course he was angry. Ginny had always said that she didn’t believe Luca would ever allow himself to love anyone enough to get married. She believed he was much too guarded, and that his head was too deep in his business to allow him the time or energy to find a wife.

That might have been true, but Luca and I had bonded over his business. I didn’t care if he came home late or spent the majority of his time with me looking at his phone.

I know how important it all is to him, and I suspect that’s why he found it so easy to spend his time with me.

We had even had the time to speak about what we each hoped for in our futures, and our plans looked so similar. Of course, it makes sense that marriage would be the next step.

My mind is racing. Luca was ready to marry me, before he even knew about the baby, so surely he’d be even more ready after learning that we were about to bring a brand new life into the world?

If only Grazia had let me tell him, we could be planning our wedding–and our future–right now. Instead, we’re not speaking.

He had also told me today that he loved me. Had he ever said that to another girl? According to Ginny, the answer was no.

I think about all of the time I have spent with Luca since Ginny’s passing, and how much we had shared with each other. It has become so easy to be with him.

His intelligence came out when he spoke, especially when he talked about his work and his plans for the business. As violent as the business could be, he had ideas that could help it be less violent and dangerous, and even more profitable.

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